__________________Franky: Ajldub, name calling is what they do when good arguments can't be found - don't sink to their level. Claiming the thread is "boring" is also a way to try to discredit a thread that doesn't match their particular bias.

A development at 150 Elgin St. that includes a 925-seat concert hall is no closer to being built now than when Ottawa city council first approved the project in October 2004. Before construction can begin, the developer and the major community group supporting the project must secure adequate funding from the federal government and from the private sector – something they have yet to accomplish.

“Without major sponsorship, the project is no longer viable,” said John Frecker, executive director of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society.

The society, which has an interest in the concert hall, was to raise $8.5 million towards the costs of the development.

The society is currently in discussion with several private companies over naming rights for the facility, Frecker said. He declined to name any participants in the talks.

“We’re hopeful that the discussions will be fruitful,” Frecker said.

He added that the federal government is “not committing” any funds towards the project until arrangements with the private sector are more settled.

“We’re hoping for something by the end of the year,” he said, when asked to put a timeline on the completion of the process.

The application for funding is on file with the federal government, said Charles Drouin, a spokesperson for the Department of Heritage.

However, he added, the request for $10 million in funds to help with the project cannot be considered until the society provides the government with more details about the status of their private fundraising.

“The department is certainly waiting for some missing information before it makes a decision on [the file],” Drouin said.

“It is important for the department to know that the society is well-positioned to carry on this project successfully,” he added.

Drouin added that this update was current as of the end of July, but at least one thing has not changed since then – a decision still has not been reached.

If the balance of the funding is not secured by Nov. 30, $5.5 million in municipal funding for the development will expire and will have to be renewed before the project can continue, Frecker said.

The funds were originally allotted to the development as part of the 20/20 initiative for Arts and Heritage in Ottawa.

In addition to the concert hall, the development is also slated to provide retail and office space and affordable housing units to the area.

But it’s not only the Chamber Music Society that needs to generate more private interest in the project.

Morguard, the developer overseeing the site, has placed a sign at the location to attract potential occupants.

Michael Grupp, Morguard’s director of development, said that this is necessary to secure sufficient bank financing for the project.

“We have to achieve a certain preleasing commitment before we can go ahead,” Grupp said.

Nonetheless, Grupp said that, with time he expects progress to continue on the development.

“It’s an excellent site and we’re very confident,” he said.

Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes, was unavailable for comment.

Even if the funding issues are resolved by the end of this year, it will still be some time before the city can reap the benefits of the facility.

According to Alain Desmarais, a broker for Cushman & Wakefield Lepage, the company responsible for preleasing the site, the construction will take an estimated 20 months.

__________________Franky: Ajldub, name calling is what they do when good arguments can't be found - don't sink to their level. Claiming the thread is "boring" is also a way to try to discredit a thread that doesn't match their particular bias.

i tend to agree that this will never get built. Its been 3 years already...initially the City of Ottawa (when they awarded Morguard the winner of the property) put a clause in that construction would have to begin by May, 2006.....that didn't pan out and they obviously haven't leased any of the office space yet.. I really wish this would happen, but I thiink we would have been better of with Teron's cylindrical buildings/plan

God, this is so stupid. The city or someone should convince a firm of some kind to invest in this development. It looks sweet adn will help inject some more life into downtown.

__________________Franky: Ajldub, name calling is what they do when good arguments can't be found - don't sink to their level. Claiming the thread is "boring" is also a way to try to discredit a thread that doesn't match their particular bias.

It's too bad this building hasn't been built already(and it's really too bad the city didn't go with Teron's proposal to fully fund a concert centre himself, back when they sold it). But this lot is too prime for it not to be built on now that it is in private hands. For those that want to see 40+ story buildings on the skyline, I think this would be a great place to put one.

Maybe SSP: Local Ottawa should lease out some of the office space and help keep this project alive. I remember when the design first came out, it was one of very few projects in Ottawa that we could all agree was pretty nice. Could be a bit taller though.

City Council is recommending to pull its funding for this Downtown Concert Hall part unless the Chamber Music Society contributes more than its $6M share by the end of the month...

__________________Franky: Ajldub, name calling is what they do when good arguments can't be found - don't sink to their level. Claiming the thread is "boring" is also a way to try to discredit a thread that doesn't match their particular bias.

Well, let's get some new designs for a 40-storey + tower in the same location. Something that can compete with the massiveness of Place Bell Canada. I think it's a great location to start our battle with Ottawa's height restrictions. How about something like this?

I definately wouldn't mind something like that, but I'd like 150 Elgin to get developed first with the Concert Hall. I can't believe city hall is serious about cutting out culture from a prime site in Ottawa!

__________________Franky: Ajldub, name calling is what they do when good arguments can't be found - don't sink to their level. Claiming the thread is "boring" is also a way to try to discredit a thread that doesn't match their particular bias.

Ottawa deserves a gorgeous, free standing concert hall and not a low key nook top heavy with condos and retail in a narrow side street. YES! to this project dying! Build something spectacular and world class in Lebreton Flats, Rockliffe Base, Landsdowne, wherever! Please, NOT another GCTC squished under an ugly apartment tower!!

1.Withdraw its endorsement of municipal and provincial funding for the community concert hall, since the Ottawa Chamber Music Society has not met the funding requirements by the Council approved deadline of November 30, 2007, resulting in the termination of the community concert hall project at 150 Elgin Street;

2.Direct staff to advise Morguard that the City will not exercise its first option to lease or purchase the concert hall space for another municipal cultural facility project and that the City and Morguard will now negotiate and enter into a new agreement for the redesign and construction of the concert hall space for alternative public benefit uses in accordance with the provisions of the Development Agreement between Morguard and the City dated 21 December 2005; and

3.Direct staff to recover any unexpended portion of the $500,000 advanced to the Ottawa Chamber Music Society in 2006.

Since the Ottawa Chamber Music Society did not meet its commitments to Morguard Elgin by February 2007, Morguard Elgin has been in a position since that time to advise the City that it will proceed with its project without the inclusion of the community concert hall. Notwithstanding this, Morguard Elgin has been cooperative with both the OCMS and the City in making every reasonable effort to include the concert hall in its project and, therefore, has not yet triggered the provisions in the Development Agreement to allow it to proceed without including the concert hall.

Although Morguard Elgin has been continuously supportive of the OCMS and the community concert hall project, they recently advised that they are considering other options for the space in the event that the community concert hall project does not come to fruition by February 28, 2008 and the City does not execute its option to use the space for City purposes.

As stated above, the Development Agreement gives the City the option to exercise its right to lease or purchase all or a portion of the space, or to enter into an agreement with Morguard Elgin to provide another alternative cultural facility on the site. However, there are no alternative cultural facilities that are presently funded and ready for development and construction on this site. Any other option, such as a proposed 38,500 square feet home for The Ottawa Art Gallery (included in the Council approved Ottawa 20/20 Arts and Heritage Plan), would be starting at the feasibility stage and its layout, collections storage and environmental requirements are not compatible with the Morguard Development Plan for a multiple use high rise building. There is no funding currently in place, and like the OCMS project, it would take at least three years to reach construction readiness and get confirmed funding from all levels of government and the private sector. This would cause major delays to start-up of construction of the entire site.

The City Archives building program is another critical cultural infrastructure priority in the City's Arts and Heritage Plan, however its requirements and layout (48,000 sq ft) are not necessarily compatible with Morguard Elgin’s proposed development at 150 Elgin and the Archives' long term expansion requirements would, in any event, not fit within the Morguard Elgin project. A multiple use high-rise building also presents unacceptable risks for the Archives holdings (e.g. water damage from above, fire, security). The archival vault should be at ground level with nothing above it or underneath it. The majority of the floor space for Archive uses is assigned to storage and staff use and these uses are not necessarily suited to, or compatible with other uses in, a high profile downtown complex such as the one proposed for 150 Elgin. A report on relocating the Archives to another site was carried by the Community and Protective Services Committee on November 1st 2007.

In the event the Ottawa Chamber Music Society does not raise the funding for its project by November 30, 2007, the City has, for the reasons set above, no clearly identified alternative civic use nor funding for the Concert Hall Space at this time and would not be exercising its first option to lease or purchase all or a portion of the space.

If they didn't want to spend 40 million on a renovation project for the portrait gallery then there is no way they will shell out the cash for a whole new building. They wouldn't be able to skimp on the construction as people are expecting (and rightly so) something nice for this often-debated portrait gallery.

If they didn't want to spend 40 million on a renovation project for the portrait gallery then there is no way they will shell out the cash for a whole new building. They wouldn't be able to skimp on the construction as people are expecting (and rightly so) something nice for this often-debated portrait gallery.

I think ajldub is making another point, which is an excellent one. The NCC or Public Works are probably not under any instruction to bid on behalf of Ottawa-Gatineau, it is up the the City to make its case as one of 9 invited cities. In that regard, the site at 150 Elgin is a perfect location for the City of Ottawa to mount a bid for the Gallery in terms of a Public-Private Partnership that will spread costs between public and private sector, timing, location (next to Confederation Boulevard), and a brilliant illustration of mixed-use development.

The only think I would say is that the Concert Hall need not fall through for the Portrait Gallery to locate in this building. The office space is relatively small compared to otehr downtown towers that are on the books, and Morguard is not exactly seeing a stampede of potential lessors. With a street entrance and an escalator, there is no reason why the Portrait Gallery could not enjoy a location on the second and third storeys, for example, featuring a full-windowed café overlooking Nepean Street.

Guys, do you really think the city, in it's current financial state and financial mission, going to bid for the Portrait Gallery?

I hate to say it, but Ottawa can kiss the Portrait Gallery of Canada goodbye.

__________________Franky: Ajldub, name calling is what they do when good arguments can't be found - don't sink to their level. Claiming the thread is "boring" is also a way to try to discredit a thread that doesn't match their particular bias.

Why have we lost it? Our credit rating is still A. If O'Brien wants to walk the walk he could borrow for the cash to put this together; the federal funding for years to come plus added tourist revenues and a nice destination to kick start a little development on that somewhat boring corner of downtown would pay it all back in time.
The portrait gallery should be ours as the national capital, and if we want to get aggressive over it I really believe this city could put together a very competitive proposal. It will be interesting to see how badly O'Brien wants it. Then again, the competition may well be nothing more than a political plum for a constituency on the fence in the federal election on the distant horizon. I think they have their eyes on giving it to either Quebec City or the GTA, but maybe I'm being pessimistic.

Why have we lost it? Our credit rating is still A. If O'Brien wants to walk the walk he could borrow for the cash to put this together; the federal funding for years to come plus added tourist revenues and a nice destination to kick start a little development on that somewhat boring corner of downtown would pay it all back in time.
The portrait gallery should be ours as the national capital, and if we want to get aggressive over it I really believe this city could put together a very competitive proposal. It will be interesting to see how badly O'Brien wants it. Then again, the competition may well be nothing more than a political plum for a constituency on the fence in the federal election on the distant horizon. I think they have their eyes on giving it to either Quebec City or the GTA, but maybe I'm being pessimistic.

I wouldn't underestimate our clout. After all, 10 out of 14 ridings in the Greater Ottawa area voted Conservative. My guess is they are probably not expecting anything articulate from the City of Ottawa but if we blow them away with a hungry and professional bid they would be very hard pressed to turn us down.

We have
-A location on Confederation Boulevard
-The parent staff at Library and Archives Canada just down the street
-A signature building project at 150 Elgin where the City's contribution is... the land! We did our part! There is a building plan, all it's looking for is tenants. The Gallery would be a tenant.
-The ability for Public Works to service the lease thanks to its proximity.
-A cluster of related cultural institutions that are complementary with the Portrait Galler, such as the National Archives, the National Gallery and the Museum of Photography.